Farmers tripled planting percentage last week

DES MOINES — Farmers spent a lot of time in the field last week and the percentage of soybeans planted more than tripled and corn wasn’t far behind. 

The USDA report says the percentage of beans planted went from five to 16% last week. Corn planting hit 29% — compared to ten percent the previous week.  The planting of both of the state’s two key crops is now eleven days ahead of last year and one day ahead of the five-year average.

The downside to the cool, dry weather is it is delaying the emergence of the seeds from the soil.